1. Field of Use
The invention pertains to a high strength impact resistant and rapidly deployable security barrier for the protection of persons and property from objects such as trucks and cars traveling at ground surface level.
2. Prior Art
Vehicle and traffic barricades are well known and are in wide use for building and personnel security applications. These systems can be permanent or temporary. The barricades can be stationary or mobile with relatively rapid deployment for raising/lowering. The barricades can be wall like sections providing a resistive mass of reinforced concrete or hollow resinous plastic structures filled with water. Other types of traffic or vehicle control barriers are bollards that are fixed in position or that can be raised and lowered from the ground surface level.
Bollards have been shown to be capable of incapacitating or stopping vehicles up to 7.5 tons GVW moving at speeds of 50 mph. The current raisable bollard systems have deficiencies that have been demonstrated based on current world events and terrorism threats. These deficiencies are related to their dependency on human interaction to deploy the barrier of the bollard system, they are slow to activate, provide inadequate capabilities to prevent intrusion, and they are dependent on electric power or air systems which can be compromised by threats. The mechanism used to power the raising and lowering can be springs, hydraulics, motors or gas cylinders. However, existing bollards or barriers that are raised to selectively block or control vehicle movement require either human intervention that retards deployment time, thereby diminishing effectiveness, or do not have sufficient mass to effectively block a large or heavy vehicle. Other bollard/barrier devices require installation beneath the ground surface level and separately powered control and motor mechanisms to raise (deploy) the barrier.
There is accordingly a need for a rapidly deployable barrier system having sufficient capability to provide an effective barrier to heavy motor vehicles. There is also a need for a non-obtrusive barrier protective system than can be easily and quickly installed and removed.